Title Searching...hands-on Or Hands-off?
What is the best way to get title information on properties before the sheriff sale? I'm dealing with 5-20 properties per week. Given my full-time job (Uhgg!), do you think it is worth my time to learn how and conduct the search myself or pay a service $35-$50 per property? What is the lowest cost per search you think I might find?
I think a little more detail would be helpful here. Why are you interested in finding detail out on the property? Are you planning on attempting to purchase at auction? Couldn't you just talk to the owner? Why not lock the property up before it goes to auction? I'd really need to know more information before trying to help.
Thanks,
Ryan J. Schnabel
Okay I learned to read. Unfortunately other than actually going to the property yourself I do not think there is a whole lot you can do. You could always try and contact the owners.
Ryan J. Schnabel
I want to know what is legally on the books with the court house. I do not want to rely on the homeowners information. Too many times they don't know of exisitng liens or convienently forget to mention one.
I'm really interested to know how other people are gathering this info from the courthouse. Do you do it yourself? How long does the average search take? What sort of red flags might I find that would make you walk away from the property? Is it worth the cost to have the search conducted by a service? I have a few hours a week to spend on real estate Should I allocate some to the courthouse?
I am a newbie at investing but I have been a title examiner for 18 years in Va.
Each state is different but in Va you can find out how many mortgages are on the property and what the original amount was (no way to know what the balance is from courthouse) if they have any judgments, liens, lis pendens, the tax amount and if they have been paid. That is just running the current owner which if your just checking them out to see if the deal is worth it is probably all you would need. When title insurance is issued they would go back and look at all owners for last 40 or 60 years and what they did on property.
I would also pay attention to whether the property is on a state maintained road and if not find out what means of access is recorded.
As far as cost thats relative to area, for a current owner search the companies in this area charge anywhere from $35-$50 for a current owner search. My boss requires investors that he doesnt know to pay before the search is done (got burned a couple of times)
As far as time it varies depending on how active the person is. I can do some in 10 minutes and others might take an hour or more. I would say average is about 15-20 minutes on regular joe maybe a little longer at first before you know where and what to look for.
I know this doesnt answer all of your questions but thats the part I know about I check out properties I'm interested in since I'm in the courthouse anyway. I don't know whether the other investors take the time. I like to know at least what the current owner owes on it to see if I have some solutions before I call them or if I'm wasting my time.
You might find out if the counties in your area have websites and how much it costs to get basic info. I know some people posted their counties have free websites we are not so lucky. In this area they range from $25/mo-$100/mo
Also, by going to the courthouse just once or twice you may meet a freelancer that might not charge too much if your a repeat customer.